Top 100 Country Songs of All Time

This list was taken from a poll at Country America magazine. The list was generated by readers and critics, counting only songs that appeared on both lists.

Midi versions of all songs were available at Jack's Midi Music where I found this list to start with, but it seems to have vanished into thin air.

Is this fair and accurate? I don't know... yet. But I did note certain trends. The top three are by current stars but the top ten is rounded out by three songs by Hank Williams Sr and two by Patsy Cline, proving that the poll was not biased to either old or new country. Also the range of dates, the top three notwithstanding, is very noticeable given that most (not all) country music coming out of Nashville nowadays is mass produced product rather than music.

I was surprised to see Good Ol' Boys by Waylon Jennings, known to most people as the theme tune to The Dukes of Hazzard, but it's a great tune so I'm not complaining. I would have expected a lot more Buck Owens and Dolly Parton but there's plenty of music that I've simply not heard of, so I'm not going to argue. The only thing I would be firm about is that Will the Circle Be Unbroken is way too far down the list.

I know a lot less about country than I do about heavy metal, but I'm learning. That my favourite songs by certain artists are the ones represented here is telling. I intend to use this list as a base to explore country music further than I've managed to so far.

The List

George Jones - He Stopped Loving Her Today (1980)

Vince Gill - When I Call Your Name (1989-90)

Garth Brooks - The Dance (1989)

Patsy Cline - Crazy (1962)

Patsy Cline - I Fall to Pieces (1960s)

Marty Robbins - El Paso (1950s)

Hank Williams Sr - Your Cheatin' Heart (1952)

Hank Williams Sr - I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (1949)

Tennessee Ernie Ford - Sixteen Tons (1955)

Hank Williams Sr - Lovesick Blues

Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys - San Antonio Rose

Patti Page - Tennessee Waltz (1950)

Dolly Parton - Coat of Many Colors (1971)

Jim Reeves - He'll Have to Go (1959-60)

Ernest T Tubb - Walking the Floor Over You (1943)

Ray Price - For the Good Times (1970)

Randy Travis - Forever and Ever, Amen (1987)

Willie Nelson - Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain (1975)

Tammy Wynette - Stand By Your Man (1968)

Don Gibson - I Can't Stop Loving You

Kitty Wells - It Wasn't God Who Made Honky-Tonk Angels (1952)

Merle Haggard - Today I Started Loving You Again (1968)

Sammi Smith - Help Me Make It Through the Night (1970-71)

Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys - Faded Love (1950)

Roy Acuff - Wabash Cannonball (1930s)

Johnny Cash - I Walk the Line (1956)

Kathy Mattea - Where've You Been

Eddy Arnold - The Cattle Call (1951)

Hank Snow - I'm Movin' On (1950)

Merle Haggard - Mama Tried (1967-68)

Willie Nelson - Always On My Mind (1982)

Vern Gosdin - Chiseled in Stone (1988)

Alan Jackson - Don't Rock the Jukebox (1991)

Alan Jackson - Here in the Real World (1990)

Jimmie Davis - You are My Sunshine (1940)

Ernest Tubb - Waltz Across Texas

The Sons of the Pioneers - Tumbling Tumbleweeds (1930s)

Garth Brooks - Friends in Low Places

Travis Tritt - Here's a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)

Conway Twitty - Hello Darlin' (1970)

Patsy Cline - Sweet Dreams

The Carter Family - Wildwood Flower

Johnny Cash - Sunday Morning Coming Down (1970)

Lee Greenwood - God Bless the USA

Hank Williams Sr - Hey Good Lookin'

Hank Williams Sr - I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)

The Osborne Brothers - Rocky Top

Randy Travis - On the Other Hand (1986)

George Strait - Amarillo by Morning (1983)

Lynn Anderson - Rose Garden (1970-71)

Tom T Hall - Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine (1973)

Roger Miller - King of the Road (1965)

K T Oslin - 80s Ladies (1987)

Don Gibson - Oh, Lonesome Me (1958)

Ray Price - Make the World Go Away (1963)

Gene Autry - That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine

Patsy Cline - She's Got You

Dolly Parton - I Will Always Love You (1974)

Clint Black - A Better Man (1989)

Alabama - Old Flame (1980-81)

Bobby Bare - Detroit City (1963)

Hank Williams Sr - Cold, Cold Heart

Merle Haggard - If We Make It Through December (1973)

Jimmie Rodgers - Blue Yodel No 1 (aka T for Texas) (1928)

Bob Nolan & The Sons of the Pioneers - Cool Water

George Strait - Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind (1984-85)

Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman

Waylon Jennings - Amanda

The Charlie Daniels Band - The Devil Went Down to Georgia

Porter Wagoner - Green, Green Grass of Home

Glen Campbell - Gentle on My Mind

Willie Nelson - Night Life

Bill Monroe - Uncle Pen (1950)

George Jones - She Thinks I Still Care (1961)

Buck Owens - Together Again

Elton Britt - There's a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere (1942)

David Houston - Almost Persuaded (1966)

The Statler Brothers - Flowers on the Wall (1965)

Hank Thompson - The Wild Side of Life (1952)

David Frizzell & Shelly West - You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma (1981)